1
as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an irretrievable drug addict who had wasted a once-promising life
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irreparable
not capable of being repaired, regained, or undone
this is just an irretrievable mess, so let's start all over again
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of irretrievable
Days before, Sheriff Nanos had said images were irretrievable.
—
Richard Ruelas,
AZCentral.com,
1 Mar. 2026
This dreamscape of the island, like that of the jungle, illuminates in children’s literature a sense of utopia and longing about childhood as a not-quite-place, situated in an irretrievable past-yet-future, while at the same time rooted in an anti-utopian logic of adulthood.
—
Literary Hub,
17 Nov. 2025
Alcaraz broke the Italian twice, winning the set with an incredible backhand flick from what looked like an irretrievable position and cupping his ear.
—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
There is a genuinely irretrievable, ephemeral, low-res version of the movie.
—
Rachel Handler,
Vulture,
17 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Richard Ruelas,
AZCentral.com,
1 Mar. 2026
This dreamscape of the island, like that of the jungle, illuminates in children’s literature a sense of utopia and longing about childhood as a not-quite-place, situated in an irretrievable past-yet-future, while at the same time rooted in an anti-utopian logic of adulthood.
—
Literary Hub,
17 Nov. 2025
Alcaraz broke the Italian twice, winning the set with an incredible backhand flick from what looked like an irretrievable position and cupping his ear.
—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
There is a genuinely irretrievable, ephemeral, low-res version of the movie.
—
Rachel Handler,
Vulture,
17 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irretrievable
Adjective
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The conflict feels contemporary without growing too cynical, and the core relationship stakes seem real without skewing hopeless.
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The situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank would almost certainly worsen and become more hopeless.
Adjective
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The judge found the department overstepped its authority by adding criteria not specified by Congress, agreeing the rule would cause irreparable harm.
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Plus, dust will collect if they’ve been forgotten about, causing irreparable damage.
Adjective
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With no way to secure this crucial boundary, Microsoft and its peers are left to erect complicated and ad hoc guardrails designed to rein in the consequences of this incurable gullibility.
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The palace announced in October 2018 that Mette-Marit was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition in which scarring of the lung tissue complicates breathing.
Adjective
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If scar tissue is too severe, if prior surgeries have left the blood supply compromised, or if a patient's goals aren't achievable without unacceptable risk, proceeding could cause irreversible damage.
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Global economies have already weighed energy options beyond the Middle East, as the war in Iran has put irreversible pressure on the oil industry, according to Karen Young, a researcher at Columbia University.
Adjective
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Countless documents were left lying out in the open and quickly became irrecoverable.
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At the same time, much of the world is facing water bankruptcy, meaning people and industries are using more fresh water than nature can replenish, leading to irrecoverable ecosystem damages.
Adjective
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The business also has made Space Shuttle drag parachutes for the orbiter, and parachutes that deploy from the tails of F-22 and F-35 military jets to break them from unrecoverable stalls or spins.
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By the time the offline assay confirmed what the cells were doing, hours had passed, and the batch was unrecoverable.
Adjective
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This is why the tragedy of Gaza seems definitive and irremediable: because a state and an army that pretend to be the expression of that culture, as the heirs of that history, have betrayed the Jewish intellectual contribution to modern civilization.
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Many of the country’s top psychiatric groups warn that there is no empirical standard for determining whether a mental-health condition is irremediable.
Adjective
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Nilsson, an incorrigible Midwesterner, had a history of downplaying her depth.
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Daisy’s strategy with Mike has always been to treat him like a misbehaved child, which works insofar as scolding an incorrigible child does.
Cite this Entry
“Irretrievable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irretrievable. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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